Survival tips for home isolation with the kids

Many listeners may already have had time at home with Covid and other winter ills. So what's the best way to get through the time together? Ellie Gwilliam is with the Parenting Place, and has just gone through it with her family. She joins Kathryn to talk survival tips.Many listeners may already have had time at home with Covid and other winter ills, and some may be having to do isolation with the kids in tow.Parenting expert Ellie Gwilliam knows all about the challenges that can bring having just gone through it herself with her three daughters.Gwilliam, who is with the Parenting Place, shares some home isolation survival tips. Listen to the full interview here First and foremost, parents need to prioritise self-care, Gwilliam tells Kathryn Ryan." can sound a bit counter-intuitive when we've got kids needing us and especially if the kids are sick ... parenting is so demanding and parenting through sickness and Covid and self-isolating is incredibly demanding."When we can take good care of ourselves, we are best prepared to take good care of our kids."Undoubtedly, there will be moments of tension, frustration, and exhaustion, so finding ways to remain calm can go a long way, she says."Calm is contagious but so is stress and anxiety so if we can take a moment as parents and adults to think about our own responses and how they are affecting the atmosphere in our homes that can be really helpful."And sometimes I feel as parents we do have to fake it a little bit; fake the calm in order to have that calming presence for our kids."Gwilliam advises it's best to lower your expectations and try to listen to your children and acknowledge their feelings before offering solutions."There's going to be some big disappointments in these moments. I know that was the case for our family when we saw those positive test results show in the Covid test ... because you're like 'oh man, that means our next week, our next fortnight, everything is off, everything is cancelled, we're here at home again'."I know as a parent I feel overwhelmed with some of big kids' big feelings and their disappointments because I realise I can't fix it, I can't solve it, I feel like I can't help."But the reality is simply listening and hearing our kids, giving them a place for dialogue to feel heard actually is an incredibly powerful thing to offer them and that practising of acceptance without fixing all the problems is actually really healthy…Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details